A BUNDLE OF JOY
by la letra escarlata
Summary: A pregnant Scarlett's musings on pregnancy, motherhood, and her relationship with Rhett.
1. Chapter 1: Scarlett's Musings

**A BUNDLE OF JOY**

**By ~La Letra Escarlata~**

SUMMARY: A pregnant Scarlett's musings on pregnancy, motherhood, and her relationship with Rhett.

Although it was well past nine o'clock in the morning, Scarlett had absolutely no intention to get out of bed yet. She had nothing pressing to attend to today – no mills to go to, no business deal to close, no store to supervise, no clerk to yell at because of a misplaced order, no annoying customers to be nice to… She had never thought it possible, but she was quite enjoying being secluded at home because of her condition. It was surprising when one considered that she had been out and about town when she was expecting Ella, but, then, circumstances had been so completely different back then. Now that she was married to Rhett Butler she could well afford to stay at home without having to worry about money matters or how to feed her children. Yes, now she could relax and leisurely be at home with the children. Well, not that she was enjoying staying home with the children all that much, to be honest… Wade made her nervous, although now that he had Uncle Rhett around, he was not as needy as he used to be, constantly clinging to his mother's skirts. Ella, although a baby, was still the spitting image of Frank Kennedy and Scarlett found it hard to feel attached to this ugly, ginger-haired daughter who didn't resemble her at all. She only hope this baby she was expecting was more like her. Yes, she would really like that. A baby who would not remind her of its father but of herself.

Well, except for the children, she was thoroughly enjoying being at home. Not that she would confess that to Rhett – if she ever did, he would use her contentedness as the perfect excuse for having her have a new baby every other year. No, it was safer to nag and complain that she been for months already locked up at home but, actually, she was pretty satisfied. When she needed some fresh air, she could always walk around in their garden, often with Rhett in the afternoons. And Melanie visited her almost every day or took Wade with her, giving Scarlett a respite from his company.

Scarlett stretched herself in her enormous bed, lazily. Rhett had surely gotten up hours ago, not that she had heard him leave their bedroom. He was always so careful not to disturb her sleep and wake her up. Rhett's attitude towards her was being a revelation of sorts. He teased her, as he had done ever since they first met, but in a milder way, much better-humored than usual, his barbs not being as cruel as they used to be. She knew he was making an effort not to make her mad in her situation and she did appreciate it, in a way, although she was having a ball infuriating Rhett on purpose only to see him struggle to control his temper and bite his tongue. So far she hadn't succeeded in making him lose his temper so as to get engaged in one of their famous arguments but she was counting the days. Truth was, she needed a good quarrel with Rhett to add some excitement to her life – much as she liked, to her surprise, her current existence without having to worry over the mills or how much money the store was making, her days were at times a bit dull and bland. Yes, a good argument with Rhett would spice things up for a few days, all the more enticing with the prospect of a sweet reconciliation to make up.

Life with Rhett, so solicitous, so tender, so considerate, so eager to please her, so attentive, was a pleasure, she had discovered. If it weren't for the children, it would be like a second honeymoon. Rhett had taken to spending the afternoons and some mornings as well keeping her company and it was very much as it had been during the war. Scarlett loved spending time with Rhett when he was being civil and courteous and she could tell him whatever thought crossed her mind, knowing that Rhett wouldn't judge her. Yes, she liked this new Rhett infinitely better. They hadn't argued once in months and nothing ever came between them. Not even Ashley. She hadn't seen him in weeks because when Melanie came to visit with Beau, he was always working at the mills. The last time she had seen him was almost five weeks ago when Rhett had invited the Wilkes for Sunday lunch and even then she had hardly spoken to Ashley. Rhett had insisted on her not talking about the mills during the meal to avoid that she got too distressed. Honestly, Scarlett hadn't had any intention of questioning Ashley over the mills; she knew Rhett was keeping an eye on the ledgers and making sure Ashley did not drive them into bankruptcy.

She didn't think about Ashley all that much either. Actually, she had surprised herself not thinking about Ashley at all. Moreover, she had discovered, more amused than anything else, that she didn't even miss him. Not a single bit. It was strange realizing that, after pining after him for years, during the war and afterwards, when she was married to Frank while Ashley stayed in Tara, now she didn't even notice his absence all that much. It was certainly strange, but, again, she didn't mind.

'Isn't my lamb going to get up today?' Mammy entered the bedroom, opening the drapes.

'Oh, Mammy…'

'It's almost ten o'clock, my lamb.'

'But I am so tired all the time these days…,' she complained, pulling the blankets over her head.

'I'll bring your breakfast in a tray,' Mammy conceded, leaving her alone again.

Aware that further protests would be to no avail with Mammy, Scarlett sat and rested her head against the headboard.

'Come in, Mammy,' she gave permission a few minutes later after hearing a knock on the door.

'Can you make do with me instead?', Rhett said, carrying her breakfast in a silver tray.

'Let's see,' Scarlett answered, smiling.

'Good morning, my pet.'

'Good morning, Rhett. I thought you'd be busy in town.'

'No, I was just playing with Wade until you decided to wake up and come join us.'

'Oh.'

'Were you very tired?'

'Oh, I am fine, Rhett, just sleepy,' she said as she began eating her enormous breakfast. Mammy and Rhett were both seeing to feeding her food enough for a small army. Already, seven months along, she was bigger than she had been before. This baby was going to be gigantic if Mammy and Rhett got their way. She was going to end up as big as Mammy.

'Any plans for today, Mrs. Butler?'

'Oh, Rhett, please stop mocking me – I haven't been anywhere in months.'

'Then I'll tell you what my plans for today are.'

'Oh, and now you'll make me envy you your planes outside while I stay here with the children.'

'Would you stop interrupting me and let me tell you what my plans for us are?'

'Oh,' Scarlett replied, more enthusiastic now that it also concerned her. 'Tell me, Rhett.'

'Wade is on his way to Mrs. Wilkes to spend the day and Ella is sleeping in the nursery. And we, my dear Mrs. Butler, will have lunch in the veranda and then take a walk before spending the afternoon in each other's lovely company drinking coffee in the library. How does that sound to you, Scarlett?'

'Oh, it sounds just lovely, Rhett.'

'Then I'll wait for you downstairs while you get ready,' Rhett said, kissing the top of her head before leaving her to her breakfast.

Yes, though Scarlett as she called Mammy to help her get dressed, it was a lovely plan and she was having so much fun with Rhett these days… She was actually looking forward to this baby's birth. Then, everything would be perfect. Rhett'd be crazy about his firstborn, and, this time, without having to worry about the money, she'd devote all her attention to their child. She'd be the best mother in the world, the one she had always wanted to be but couldn't be for Wade and Ella because of lack of time and money and now they'd all be so truly happy. Rhett was being nice to her and she'd also make a deliberate effort not to ruin things. Yes, Rhett and she could be very happy together. Everything'd be perfect once this baby came, Scarlett told herself as she went downstairs to meet Rhett.

**~~~To be continued~~~**


	2. Chapter 2: A Few Simple Facts of Life

**A BUNDLE OF JOY**

**By ~La Letra Escarlata~**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've rewritten and expanded Chapter 1, so please re-read it for the latest version.

CHAPTER 2: A FEW SIMPLE FACTS OF LIFE

It was a simple fact of life that Rhett Butler loved his wife, Scarlett, to distraction, more than he loved life itself.

Another simple fact of life was that the said Scarlet did not love her husband her husband much – only as provider of the many luxuries she had been enjoying since she had entered (somewhat reluctantly, truth be said) this marriage, her third one – although it was just the first for her husband, who had a reputation as a bachelor of sorts.

A further simple fact of life was that Mrs. Butler was crazily in love with Mr. Ashley Wilkes (and, while much-married, she had been so since the tender age of fourteen), her own sister-in-law's (by her first marriage) husband.

With all these elements combined, it was but a question of time that tragedy was in the mix and ready to explode.

However, in the meantime, another and yet more surprising fact of life for Rhett Butler had been for him to realize that he thoroughly enjoyed married life. He had only halfheartedly married the delicious widow Scarlett Kennedy because it was the only way to get hold of her now that he caught her between husbands and her newly acquired well-off status would not make his former (but still standing) offer of making of Scarlett his mistress as enticing as it had been when she felt the acute need for $300 to pay the taxes on her family's northern Georgian plantation. So, beginning with her desire to grasp his fortune and his own desire to get her whatever the cost or the way, it did not seem a happy prospect for a marriage having been entered under such unpromising premises.

And, yet, although he wouldn't be caught dead confessing it to his wife (or to anybody else in earth, for that matter), Rhett Butler was a happily married man who enjoyed life as the husband of the former belle of five counties.

Nobody would have suspected it, though, seeing the cool façade he showed or the somewhat distant manner in which he sometimes spoke to Scarlett – least of all Scarlett herself, who had no clue about her husband's feelings for her. Belle, however, was different – she knew why exactly he was growing more and more distant and hardly ever dropping by these days. No word of complaint ever came out from her lips but she knew she was losing Rhett and Rhett was not unaware that she knew but there was nothing he wanted to do to change it.

And now the prospects of fatherhood to boot. Rhett Butler had never had the least interest in becoming a father so as to perpetuate a last name that, while still well-known and much respected in Charleston, for him at times (at too many times in his life) had been nothing but a badge of opprobrium and shame, courtesy of his father. Just as he had had no intention of ever giving up his bachelor state, he had never seen himself as a father. And now just thinking about the baby that would be born in just a few weeks' time filled with him enormous pride and brought a bright smile to his lips. A baby had never been in his plans and Scarlett had at first abhorred the idea of having a third child but, now, seeing her placid expectant state and her contented face when he stole glances at her, he'd like to think that she was also happy of having this baby, his baby.

There had been so many changes in the very few last months that he often found it hard to believe it himself. Who would have thought it even remotely possible to see that scoundrel of Rhett Butler happily playing with Wade's building blocks on a Sunday afternoon? Or doting on his pregnant wife, fulfilling anything her heart might desire?

And yet, that was exactly the life he led now. Who knew? Maybe, after all, he and Scarlett could make of their marriage a success. He'd certainly try his best because it was a simple fact of life that Rhett Butler was a man very much in love with his wife.

**~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~**


	3. Chapter 3: Partner in Crime

**A BUNDLE OF JOY**

**By ~La Letra Escarlata~**

CHAPTER 3: PARTNER IN CRIME

Ashley Wilkes might not be the most perceptive man in the world. Actually, even his wife, who idolized him and loved him with a passion, would probably be forced to confess, if pressed, that sometimes Ashley Wilkes' grasp on reality was somewhat loose. Ashley himself knew that what others immediately understood even if only a hint of what had been offered, he had trouble realizing almost anything, unless it was fully spelled out for him. Yes, he was not bright enough for this too sharp-edged world in which they seemed to be living now. Tthese were times that were too brazen, too bright, too bold, and too crude for him. His realm was that of literature and classical music, nothing to do with these days which seemed to suit Scarlett so much better than the old days before the war.

Oh, Scarlett… although he could be obtuse at times, most times actually; he could no longer fail to see that his relationship with Scarlett no longer was what it had once been. She had grown distant and cold since she had married that Rhett Butler of hers. Why she had felt compelled to marry that scoundrel, Ashley couldn't quite exactly figure out as of yet. And here you could see the effects thereof; she was getting brutalized by that rascal of a husband she had, growing more similar to him, and, in turn, Ashley was losing her. Scarlett could no longer come to the mills, that was perfectly understandable, but in the very rare occasions he had seen her since her "condition" prevented her going out of her monstrous display of wealth she called her home, they had hardly spoken a word to each other.

If that was not bad enough, now Ashley had Rhett Butler himself behind him all the time! Rhett had taken his duty of supervising his wife's businesses very seriously. Ashley had him dropping by at the mills unexpectedly and unannounced almost every single day! He couldn't stand the man and now had to have him supervising and constantly criticizing his hard, even if it was not brilliant, work.

If he had had to confess it to himself (for there has nobody else in the whole world he might ever dare to confess such a painful thing to), he would have had to admit that he was not in love with Scarlett. Truth be told, he had never been in love with her. And yet, he would be lying if he denied the fact that the sight of Scarlett O'Hara's beautiful face and body, did not stir any feelings within him.

What Ashley felt for Scarlett had nothing to do with the tender and calm affection he felt for his wife of so many years. It was nothing like the sudden surge of pride he felt every time he saw his only son. But Scarlett stopped his heart and captured his imagination in a way not even heroines in operas could do. He had never wished to marry her – not even innocently flirted with her as all the other young men in Clayton County seemed to have done in those lovely days before the war, which had spoilt it all for him and ruined his life. No, he certainly had never been one of those boys. Her love declaration on the day his engagement was to be announced, in that distant barbeque at Twelve Oaks before all hell broke loose, had come as a complete surprise to him. And yet, sometimes Ashley caught himself unaware, wondering what it would be like being married to such a lovely creature as Scarlett O'Hara. How would it be, being the husband of such a beautiful woman? What would he feel when he had Scarlett in his arms? She had the appeal of all beautiful things that, still, weren't within his grasp. She was like a beautiful melody, one that he wished to have written himself, or like a painting you couldn't avert your gaze from, or like a sculpture you longed to touch.

What if he had had the courage, like Charles Hamilton, to break his engagement to Melanie? Just like Cousin Charles had jilted India for Scarlett; could he have done the same? Would they have been happy together? Would some of Scarlett's bravery have eventually rubbed on him? With her as his wife, could he have found within himself the strength to live in these frantic times?

Life certainly would have been different, he mused, before turning his attention back to the ledgers, trying to make some sense of these figures before Rhett Butler came to question him about it.

**~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~**

**Author's note:**** Thanks a lot to my really extraordinary reader, Ghost Writer Extraordinaire.**


	4. Chapter 4: PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF A LADY

**A BUNDLE OF JOY**

**By ~La Letra Escarlata~**

CHAPTER 4: THE PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF A HAPPILY MARRIED LADY

If she had been offered the chance to make any change in the course her life had taken, Melanie Wilkes would not have dared to ask for anything different from her current life. She, at last, had gotten everything she had ever dreamed of – a devoted husband who respected and loved her, a lovely son, a circle of friends nearby on whom she could always rely; a home of her own, decorated according to her own wishes; and even some extra money to spare on helping out those who were in dire need and much more unfortunate than she had ever been. Yes, she had it all and nothing to complain about came to her mind – not that she was the kind of woman who looked for thing to nag about. Far from it.

Just as she was not one to nag, Melanie Wilkes was not known either to be one to complain about her lot. Envying anybody was even further removed from her kind and gentle nature. And, yet, sometimes she caught herself daydreaming and having a feeling remotely (but upsetting enough) similar to envy, the closes thing to envy she could ever feel for somebody she admired and loved so much. But sometimes, the thing was, she for a fraction of a second, wished the life her much beloved sister-in-law, Mrs. Scarlett Butler, had.

Nobody knew better than Melanie that the things Scarlett had, everything she had, actually, had not come easily to her. Nobody had to tell her how much her sister-in-law had struggled to keep a roof over her family's heads, including Melanie's very own. But yet, Scarlett, had that energy and that vitality that seemed to ooze from her. Melanie had never had the wits or even the strength to carry out half of the projects Scarlett had. She was so full of life and vigor…

And then there were the children. Melanie certainly loved her Beau more than life itself and it was because of this, that she acutely felt her failure to give her husband more children. Not that he had ever complained about it. No, always a perfect gentleman, he had never gone as far as insinuating that he would have wanted more children. It was rather her personal inability to give Beau any brother or sister to play with that bothered her. What wouldn't she given to have another child!

Especially a daughter, a lovely girl to teach to sew and embroider, a little Southern lady in the making who would perpetuate their cherished traditions in the face of the vulgarity and loss of manners these Yankee women were bringing home. That would be such a joy…!

And then, Scarlett was expected her third child while she already had two little angels – Wade Hampton, so handsome and whom Melanie loved as much as she had once loved her brother, Wade's late father, Charles Hamilton, and almost as much as she loved her only son. And baby Ella Lorena, with her freckles and red curls, and who one day would be a beautiful lady like her grandmother Ellen O'Hara had been.

Sometimes it hurt to see Scarlett's beautiful darlings and realize that she would never hold in her arms another baby she could call her own. Yet, she was being so unfair with dearest Scarlett, who was always so kind as to let her have the children so often at her house. She should not feel this little (but impossible to repress) pang of jealousy upon seeing Scarlett's babies, seeing how often Scarlett let her have them and considering how very hard Scarlett had to work at her businesses and how little time she had to be with them as a result. No, she didn't want to be jealous and unfair to Scarlett. Not when she owed her so much of her present happiness.

With a bit of remorse, she forced herself to push these thoughts aside. Who could wish for a better and kinder sister-in-law?

**~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~**


End file.
